Slidell Memorial Hospital marked a milestone in the construction of its Surgical Services and Patient Care Tower on the SMH Main campus--a “topping out” ceremony to complete the structural steel framework of the new three-story building.
In August, construction workers affixed the final structural beam, along with an evergreen tree and an American flag to symbolize growth and good luck, at the building’s highest point to “top out” the frame of the addition being constructed along the back of the hospital on Florida Avenue. Members of the construction team, SMH Board of Commissioners members, and hospital leaders and staff added their signatures to the final steel beam before it was placed atop the new building’s structure.
“This installation, which is a time-honored tradition in the construction industry, symbolizes the progress made and collaborative efforts of everyone involved in the project,” said Sandy Badinger, SMH chief executive officer. “But further than that, the topping out represents our progress toward improving the hospital facility and services for our patients here in our community.”
Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2024, the SMH Surgical Services and Patient Care Tower will house new operating suites, an expanded Intensive Care Unit, and an additional inpatient care unit with private rooms that can be switched to negative pressure to aid in the treatment of airborne viruses. The $50 million project also includes the renovation of current operating rooms, built in the 1970s, to create a surgical experience that is completely private for patients, without the need to be wheeled along public corridors to and from surgery.
Pictured, from left are SMH Board of Commissioners Past Chairman Daniel Ferrari; Current SMH Board Chairman Larry Englande; Salvadore Randazzo (back); Chief Executive Officer Sandy Badinger; Interim Chief Nursing Officer Ray Holmes Jr. (back); and Chief Administrative Officer Holly Sanchez.